College football kickoff 2013 on ESPN

College Football Kickoff 2013: North Carolina at South Carolina, Alabama vs. Virginia Tech and a roundup of opening weekend college football highlights.

College football season kicks off on Aug. 29 with a Thursday night matchup at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C., between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the North Carolina Tar Heels (ESPN, 6pm ET). The second game in ESPN’s doubleheader has the Ole Miss Rebels visiting the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville, Tenn.

College football’s opening weekend continues on Saturday, Aug. 31, at 5:30pm ET, with a big matchup between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Virginia Tech Hokies at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Last season, head coach Nick Saban’s Tide rolled to a 42-14 victory over Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship Game. Following that  game is another neutral site clash on ESPN as the LSU Tigers and the TCU Horned Frogs show down in the Cowboys Classic in Arlington, Texas.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPNEWS, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date Time (ET) Game Network
Thu, Aug 29 6 p.m. North Carolina at No. 6 South Carolina
ESPN: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Ponder
Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad
ESPN & ESPN Radio
  6 p.m. Liberty at Kent State
Michael Reghi & John Gregory
ESPN3
  6:30 p.m. Presbyterian at Wake Forest
Roy Philpott, Brian Kinchen & Angela Mallen
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Tulsa at Bowling Green
Joe Davis & David Diaz-Infante
ESPNU
  7 p.m. Illinois State at Ball State
Jim Barbar & Rocky Boiman
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Akron at UCF
Drew Fellios, Al Groh & Tiffany Greene
ESPN3
  7:30 p.m. Towson at Connecticut
Bob Picozzi, KC Keeler & John Brickley
ESPN3
  7:30 p.m. Southern Utah at South Alabama
Mike Gleason & Cole Cubelic
ESPN3
  9:15 p.m. Ole Miss at Vanderbilt
Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor
ESPN
  10:30 p.m. Rutgers at Fresno State
Dave Flemming, Mike Bellotti & Lewis Johnson
ESPNU
Fri, Aug 30 7 p.m. Samford at Georgia State
Ryan Rose & Cory Chavous
ESPN3
  8 p.m. Texas Tech at SMU
Carter Blackburn, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams
ESPN
  8 p.m. Florida Atlantic at Miami (Fla.)
Tom Hart, John Congemi & Brooke Weisbrod
ESPNU
  8:30 p.m. Southern at Houston
Brett Dolan, Kevin O’Connell & Sean Adams
ESPN3
Sat, Aug 31 Noon Buffalo at No. 2 Ohio State
Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Paul Carcaterra
ESPN2
  Purdue at Cincinnati
Eamon McAnaney & Anthony Becht
ESPNU
  Villanova at Boston College
Ryan Ruocco, Pete Najarian & Cassidy Hubbarth
ESPNEWS
  Elon at Georgia Tech
Shawn Kenney, Stan Lewter & Steffi Sorenson
ESPN3
  12:21 p.m. Toledo at No. 10 Florida
Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano
SEC Network & ESPN3 *
  12:30 p.m. Louisiana Tech at NC State ESPN3 & ACC Network *
  Florida International at Maryland ESPN3 & RSN *
  1 p.m. Rice at No. 7 Texas A&M
Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Tom Luginbill
ESPN
  3:30 p.m. 2013 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff: Mississippi State vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State (from Houston)
Bob Wischusen, Rod Gilmore & Quint Kessenich
ABC & ESPN2 **
  Syracuse vs. Penn State (from East Rutherford, N.J.)
Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards
ABC & ESPN2 **
  BYU at Virginia
Anish Shroff & Kelly Stouffer
ESPNU
  4 p.m. North Carolina Central at Duke
John Sadak, Al Groh & Jeff Taylor
ESPN3
  Louisiana-Lafayette at Arkansas
Bob Rathbun, Tim Couch & Elizabeth Moreau
ESPN3 & RSN *
  5:30 p.m. Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: No. 1 Alabama vs. Virginia Tech (from Atlanta)
ESPN: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Shannon Spake
Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad
ESPN & ESPN Radio
  6 p.m. Howard at Eastern Michigan
Dan Gutowsky & Mark Hermann
ESPN3
  Austin Peay at Tennessee
Mike Keith & Pat Ryan
ESPN3
  Furman at Gardner-Webb
Chuck Hussion, Corey Stewart & David Cobb
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Washington State at Auburn
Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Dawn Davenport
ESPNU
  Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky (from Nashville)
Joe Davis, David Diaz-Infante & Joe Budden
ESPNEWS
  McNeese State at South Florida
Drew Fellios, Doug Graber & Tiffany Greene
ESPN3
  Arkansas Pine-Bluff at Arkansas State
Brock Bowling & Forrest Connoly
ESPN3
  UAB at Troy
Dave Weekley & Cole Cubelic
ESPN3
  Murray State at Missouri ESPN3
  8 p.m. No. 5 Georgia at No. 8 Clemson
Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox
ABC
  New Mexico State at No. 15 Texas
Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley & Kaylee Hartung
Longhorn Network
  9 p.m. Cowboys Classic: No. 20 TCU vs. No. 12 LSU
Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe
ESPN
  Appalachian State at Montana ESPN3
  10:30 p.m. No. 22 Northwestern at California
Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Lewis Johnson
ESPN2
Sun, Sep 1 11:45 a.m. MEAC/SWAC Challenge: Florida A&M vs. Mississippi Valley State
Tom Hart & Jay Walker
ESPN
  3:30 p.m. Ohio at No. 9 Louisville
Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor
ESPN
  8 p.m. Bethune-Cookman at Tennessee State ESPN3
Mon, Sep 2 8 p.m. No. 11 Florida State at Pittsburgh
Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Ponder
ESPN

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast

About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.